Top Retailers Send More E-Mail as Mother’s Day Takes Center Stage

According to The Retail Email Blog, for the week ending Friday, April 30, top online retailers sent more e-mail than they did in the previous week, four weeks ago and in the same week last year.

On average, top online retailers sent 2.8 promotional e-mails during the week ending April 30, which marked a 3 percent increase from the previous week, a 2 percent boost from four weeks prior and a 12 percent year-over-year surge.

Friday was the peak day for major online retailers last week, as it was “the last weekday for free standard shipping for delivery before Mother’s Day for many retailers,” according to The Retail Email Blog. On Friday, 46 percent of major online retailers sent at least one promotional e-mail. Monday trailed behind with 44 percent, followed by Wednesday with 42 percent, Tuesday with 38 percent, Thursday with 36 percent, Sunday with 35 percent and Saturday with 19 percent.

Mother’s Day e-mails have been climbing uphill for a while now and accounted for about a third of all retail e-mails sent during the week ending April 30.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), Mother’s Day is second only to the winter holidays (Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanza). This year, NRF’s 2010 Mother’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, found that the average consumer will dole out $126.90 for mom on her special day, which reflects a 2.4 percent increase from last year’s $123.89 of spending.

Total Mother’s Day spending is expected to reach $14.6 billion, with flowers slated to receive the biggest share of that money.

According to the survey, 65.2 percent of consumers are planning on buying flowers, for a total of $1.9 billion. Meanwhile, 51.8 percent plan on treating their mothers to brunch or dinner, for a total of $2.9 billion. Jewelry is in the cards for 26.2 percent of consumers, for a total of $2.5 billion.

Clothing and clothing accessories ($1.3 billion), gift certificates ($1.5 billion), personal services (e.g., a day at the spa) ($933 million), consumer electronics ($906 million) and greeting cards ($671 million) are also expected to have plenty of cash thrown their way this year for Mother’s Day.

Of all shopping venues, specialty stores, like florists and jewelers, are expected to receive the most traffic (33.6 percent), followed by department stores (30.6 percent), discount stores (30.4 percent), online (19.7 percent), specialty clothing stores (6.2 percent) and catalogs (2.5 percent).

“After a few years of cutting back on their discretionary spending, consumers will open up their wallets a little bit more to celebrate the woman with the most important job in the world,” said Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategic initiatives at BIGresearch.

Sources:

http://www.retailemailblog.com/2010/05/week-end-trends-mothers-day-delivers.html

http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=918